1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydrocarbons including gas for use in cutting and/or welding torches, internal-combustion engine fuels and high temperature heating gas and oil fortified by the addition of a double additive or conditioner.
2. Prior Art
Various attempts have been made heretofore to improve gas used in cutting and/or welding torches by adding an additive or a double additive to them. These prior art gases have been composed of various hydrocarbons from methane to octane and some have included propane and butane. Harris U.S. Pat. No. 1,565,935, issued Dec. 15, 1925, for example, fortified a wet casinghead gas composed of methane, ethane, propane, butane and hexane by the addition of ethyl ether [diethyl ether (C.sub.2 H.sub.5).sub.2 O or C.sub.4 H.sub.10 O] or methyl ether [dimethyl ether (CH.sub.3).sub.2 O]. Another patent that proposed to add ethyl ether, also called ethyl oxide, to a gas including propane or butane and propane is White U.S. Pat. No. 2,513,769, issued Jul. 4, 1950.
British patent specification No. 813,981, published May 27, 1959 (Oxy-Ferrolene Limited) proposed to add to hydrocarbon gas an oxygen-containing compound such as isopropyl ether [diisopropyl ether] [(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH].sub.2 O or (C.sub.3 H.sub.7).sub.2 or C.sub.6 H.sub.14 O], methyl isopropyl ether, methyl propyl ether [(CH.sub.3)CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.3 or C.sub.4 H.sub.10 O], normal propyl ether, ethanol [CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 OH] and methanol [CH.sub.3 OH]. This British patent also suggests the incorporation of more than one compound but does not suggest any specific double compounds.
Seley U.S. Pat. No. 2,411,759, issued Nov. 26, 1946, does suggest the use of double additives, namely, ethyl oxide [diethyl ether or ethyl ether (C.sub.2 H.sub.5).sub.2 O] and benzine [benzene C.sub.6 H.sub.6 ]. White U.S. Pat. No. 2,951,750, issued Sep. 6, 1960, refers to the prior double additives for torch gas of dimethyl ether [methyl ether (CH.sub.3).sub.2 O] and benzine [benzene C.sub.6 H.sub.6 ] at column 1, lines 21 to 25, presumably as disclosed in the Seley patent, and then proposes the use of the double additive of propylene oxide [1,2-epoxy propane C.sub.3 H.sub.6 O] and dimethyl ether [(CH.sub.3).sub.2 O] at column 1, lines 55 to 62, instead of using benzine and dimethyl ether.
In addition, Kessler U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,355, issued Jul. 6, 1971, proposed the addition of methanol [CH.sub.3 OH] to a gas containing propane or a double additive to torch gas, composed of a liquid alkanol such as methanol and a mixture of alkanes such as pentane and isopentane. White U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,479, issued Nov. 2, 1976, also proposed the addition of methanol and British patent specification No. 569,108, accepted May 4, 1945, proposed the addition of ammonia. This British patent also recommended increasing the amount of propane in producer gas, water gas, Mond gas and other commercially available gas mixtures in which methane predominated.
Medsker U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,599, issued Oct. 13, 1959, stated that methyl borate and acetone had been used previously in a fuel for torch use citing U.S. Pat. No. 2,281,910. The Medsker patent proposed a mixture of methyl borate and hexane as an additive for a gaseous fuel. The Bialosky et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,281,910, issued May 5, 1942, disclosed a liquid flux containing methyl borate and a ketone, such as acetone [CH.sub.3 COCH.sub.3 ] or methyl ethyl ketone [1,2-butanone CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 COCH.sub.3 ], to be subjected to a stream of acetylene, hydrogen or similar combustible gas for coating the work with boric acid or oxide.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 24 55 727, published May 28, 1975, proposes a multitude of additions for fortifying hydrocarbons including higher mono-, di- and polyalcohols having 5 to 20 carbon atoms in each molecule. It is stated at page 12, line 24 that:
The preferred alcohols are the mono-, di- and polyalcohols of the C.sub.5 to C.sub.8 hydrocarbons which . . . contain pentanols, hexanols, heptanols, octanols, pentenols, hexenols, heptenols and octenols. PA1 (a) a component of fuel in liquid form which is the same as the base fuel PA1 (b) a combustion activator which can be ethyl ether or a halogeno-ether, particularly a chloroether; PA1 (c) a high calorific value liquid hydrocarbon for enhancing the evaporation of the activator and which is soluble in the activator, such as 2-methyl-butane having the formula CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 in an amount approximately equal to the amount of activator, i.e., between 1% and 12%, and preferably between 5% and 10% of the weight of the fuel used; PA1 (d) a liquid oxidation catalyst, preferably selected from among the constituents of pyridine bases, particularly the alkylpyridines where the alkyl groups are of low molecular weight in an amount between 0.1% and 1% of the weight of fuel; and PA1 (e) a hydrotrope which can be a terpenic hydrocarbon, preferably being mixed with a phenylcarbinol or a carbinol alkyl ether, as well as with an aliphatic ester of carboxylic aromatic acid, preferably methyl salicylate.
Belgian patent No. PV 35 394 is referred to in Patent of Addition No. BE-A-697,274 which is believed to be Belgian patent No. 689,179, issued Jan. 13, 1967. This patent discloses a method and device for obtaining a fuel mixture of homogeneous composition by spraying into a gaseous aliphatic hydrocarbon fuel such as propane alone or mixed with propylene a conditioning liquid composed of five classes of ingredients, namely:
This five-component conditioning liquid mixture is sprayed into the gaseous fuel at the moment that it is used, so that there will be no preferential vaporization of any of the constituents of the conditioning liquid.
Belgian patent of addition No. BE-A-697,274, issued Jun. 30, 1967 which constitutes an addition to the principal patent No. PV 35 394, discloses the use of an alternative type of combustion activator in the five-component conditioning liquid of the main patent which is sprayed into the gaseous fuel.
Instead of using ethyl ether or a halogeno-ether as disclosed by the main patent for the activator component, the patent of addition uses as a combustion activator a hydrocarbon-oxygenated derivative, particularly an aliphatic hydrocarbon belonging to the group of esters, ketones and olefin oxides having the general formula C.sub.n H.sub.m O.sub.p where n is an integer between 2 and 6, m is an integer between 2n-2 and 2n+2, and p is equal to 1 or 2. The specific activators disclosed are:
acetone (C.sub.3 H.sub.6 O) PA0 ether methyl ketone (C.sub.4 H.sub.8 O) PA0 mesityl oxide (4-methyl-3-penten-2-one) (CH.sub.3).sub.2 C.dbd.CHCOCH.sub.3 (C.sub.6 H.sub.10 O) PA0 ethyl acetate (C.sub.4 H.sub.8 O.sub.2) PA0 ethylene oxide (C.sub.2 H.sub.4 O) PA0 propylene oxide (C.sub.3 H.sub.6 O) PA0 butylene oxide (1,2-epoxybutane) (C.sub.4 H.sub.8 O)
The principal torch gas used heretofore has been acetylene which is comparatively expensive, difficult to store and to transport, requires the use of almost pure oxygen with it and forms persistently adherent scoria when used for cutting ferrous metal.
Internal-combustion engine fuels, such as gasoline, have been inclined to detonate in reciprocating piston internal-combustion engines, and it has been found that high-octane gasoline can reduce or eliminate detonation-causing combustion knock and increase power. Another expedient used to deter detonation has been the addition of antiknock material, particularly tetraethyl lead. Also, aromatic amines have been used in amounts averaging 2.6 g. of metal per gallon. Such amines are not commercially used, however, because of their higher cost than tetraethyl lead or mixed methyl ethyl lead alkyls. Also, methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl has been used. In addition, use of other metallic antiknock compounds have been proposed, such as thallium, selenium and tellurium organic compounds, but these have not proven to be useful.
A disadvantage of using tetraethyl lead is that the lead has been discharged into the air, and lead is physically harmful, so that its use in gasoline for internal-combustion engines has been phased out. Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) or methyl tert-butyl ether [tert-butyl methyl ether] (CH.sub.3).sub.3 COCH.sub.3 by itself has been used as an additive for unleaded gasoline as an octane booster and to reduce harmful emission products.
Also, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) has been used by itself heretofore as an additive for torch gas.